In the Classroom

Have students create an online Venn Diagram comparison of the waves using a program like Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram reviewed here. Challenge your students to make up a fictitious news worthy event using one type wave. Then have them collaborate to write a news article about the fictional event. Students can use a site like Model Bank Elements of Language reviewed here to see how to write a proper news article. Use a site like Google Docs, reviewed here, for online collaborative writing.

This tool is a wonderful resource for both middle school teachers and students. Find lessons in any physical or biological content area. Find ideas for activities to use as part of your school's Science Club or interesting trivia to use as starters for your classroom. Other resources available include ideas for nature Centers, Puzzles, and links to other resources. This site has quite a few distracting advertisements.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use the information on this site to find interesting demonstrations or facts to use when planning your lessons. Use these ideas as part of an inquiry lesson that encourages the students to be investigators and ask the questions. Students can also be the demonstrators in class. Encourage them to find an interesting idea or demonstration to perform in front of the class and "teach" the other students. Alternately, students can videotape or podcast their demonstration for viewing later on your class website. For podcasts use a site such as PodOmatic (reviewed here). To share videos, use a site such as SchoolTube reviewed here.

This renowned science news source is an excellent resource for children, teens, AND adults. Find information from technology, space, humans, earth, history, animals, and adventure. Some examples of specific topics include dinosaurs, psychology, evolution, religion, robots, genetics, and much more! Be sure to scroll through the information on the front page where highlighted videos, games, and eye catching headlines are sure to catch your interest. The reading levels (approximately middle school) are obviously too high for young readers, but videos and captions are quite approachable. Please PREVIEW before sharing anything with your students. Some of these topics are not appropriate for the classroom..This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use this site as a resource for current events projects or when discussing news relative to the class content. Find informational texts galore to practice CCSS literacy skills! (If you need a reading level, paste the url for the specific article into Juicy Studio's readability checker, reviewed here.) Have students research what's going on via this news site, and give a brief presentation for a current events assignment or as extra credit. Again, preview any stories that students may be exploring. You may even want to provide the direct ULRs to the stories rather than have students explore the site on their own. Students can either orally present or, for the technologically inclined, create a short video or podcast summarizing the information. Have students create videos and share them using a tool such as SchoolTube reviewed here. Have students write their information in a short summary and include background information that ties the information into the class or teaches something new and relevant. Practice science literacy skills with these engaging stories!

Back Pack Games is a collection of educational interactives in all subjects for elementary and middle school students. The site gathers and categorizes games from multiple outside sources. Specific activities are designed for grades 3-5 or grades 6-8. However, many of the activities in the Cognitive Development area could be used with younger students. Choose activities by subject, genre, or grade level links. Browse to find the most popular games. One interesting link includes activities aligned to cognitive development including skills such as attention, memory, and spacial skills. Click the standards option to find games aligned to Common Core Standards. Details included with each game include a short description, game categories and skills addressed, and an educator's review of the activity.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Bookmark this site to use as a resource for computer center games and activities throughout the year. Share curriculum-related resources on your interactive whiteboard or projector. This site could work well in a BYOD or 1:1 classroom. Share with parents as a resource to use at home or as a summer skills review and refresher.

Try this "easy to use" collaboration tool and templates to enhance your interactive whiteboard (IWB) or make ANY projector or computer screen behave like a collaborative IWB. See Examples to get the idea. Once you join, choose from dozens of different board templates (left sidebar) including a traditional whiteboard. Create sticky notes, text boxes, and upload images or PDF documents. Draw freehand on the whiteboard using a brush. Change colors, add symbols, lines, and more. Rotate and resize items. All menu items are seen at the bottom of the board window. Invite collaborators using the menu at the top right. When finished, publish as an image or PDF document. You can also easily embed the results within a site or your class wiki. Connect to Google Drive to share with collaborators and others.

In the Classroom

Assess prior knowledge as you start a unit by generating a class whiteboard. Save it under your class/teacher account to re-access throughout the unit, adding new topics and content. Make the URL available from your class web page for students to use as a review or for learning support teachers to reinforce what has happened in class. Have student groups map out the content of projects. Encourage visual prewriting for the students who "think in pictures." Have students create review organizers to share with classmates. Allow students to use their whiteboard as their visual during speeches. Map the sequence of steps in a chemical reaction. Then share the URL for absent students to "see" what happened in class. Annotate design principles directly on top of an uploaded image. Have young students use a whiteboard to draw out ideas before they can even write entire sentences. The real asset is that the files are saved and available from ANY computer!

This tool is an interesting way to visualize geographic information by telling it in a story format. You organize knowledge in MapStory by becoming storytellers who create, share, and collaborate. You can help to improve understanding of worldwide issues over the course of history. MapStory is much like Wikipedia. It is a global database to tell stories over time using maps. View fascinating maps such as trends in US poverty, the spreading of diseases such as the Swine Flu, and the increasing use of the US Postal Service. View many topics from endangered species to economic development -- anything you can place on a map! By clicking on the "play" button, you can see the change over time through an unfolding story. Hover over the tabs along the top of the toolbar to select a category of stories. Be sure to also notice as maps scroll across the top of the screen. Click on maps of interest and view tools for saving in favorites or embedding in a site. Search the site for StoryLayers. The StoryLayers are data that have been uploaded to the site to apply in maps. Be sure to check out the YouTube videos which explain how to use this fascinating site. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share with your class, if needed. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Find great MapStory maps to introduce a concept or explain a portion of the concept that may be difficult to introduce in class. Use one to show initially, eliciting thoughts and questions from students. Because it is an open database, maps could contain errors. Have students be on the lookout for any possible errors. Students can fact check, research, and rewrite information as needed. Consider creating an assignment that shows a change in information over time. This project would be applicable to any subject area. Consider creating a class account to maintain the MapStories created by your students. Imagine new information being added every year with new updates to the map! World language (or world cultures) classes could collaborate to create a map story about a specific culture.

Create animations using a wide variety of characters, props, templates, and backgrounds with this free tool. Easily upload your own images. Add your own music or voice overs. Even though this is a very easy to understand tool, be sure to check out the tutorial after registering. The handy templates allow you to "re-use" a sample, adding your own text to a video that already has music, special effects, and more! No "techy" expertise needed. View the sample Wideos. Visit the gallery for more ideas. Add characters, props, backgrounds, and more with the plus button along the top left. View the timeline for your scene along the bottom. Flip, zoom, or arrange items on your page using buttons above the timeline. To animate your object, drag the character where you would like them to move. Your animation can either be private or public! Check out a video on Wideo here.

In the Classroom

Wideo is much like Go Animate reviewed here. However, Wideo's advantage is in the ability to upload your media. (Note: This could be a disadvantage if inappropriate material from the general public is uploaded. The site does have a public gallery, but nothing inappropriate was viewable at the time of this review. It is always wise to check the gallery prior to using in class (or simply steer the class away from the gallery.) This tool has a wide variety of applications for the classroom. Have students make an animation about a historical figure or a character in a novel. As students write their own story, use Wideo to animate the characters. Use Wideo to explain lab procedures or make a commercial about the superpowers of an element. If you use a template, the work will be quick and can focus on content instead of glitz. Students can explain vocabulary words, chemical equations, solving for X and more. Challenge your gifted students to create an entire animated series. ESL/ELL or world language students could create animations to practice or explain their new vocabulary. Use one of the templates to "advertise" an upcoming class project or even the daily homework assignments on your class we page. Have students help create ads for new books in the library!

Discover the science and engineering behind many Hollywood Themes: Zombies, Space, Forensics, and Superheroes. Choose one of the themes to access information, videos, TI-Nspire downloads for interactive activities, and more. Each page also features related Math and Science Activities. The current hosts are Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory) and Dr. Z.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Pair this information and the related activities with classroom content, video clips, and data about related events (spreading of disease, space travel, etc.) Create discussions about various technologies, discoveries, and more to engage your students in the topics you are studying. Share the video clips on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Share this link on your class website for students to explore at home and learn more about how Hollywood uses science and math in film, television, and beyond. Include this site in a careers unit so students can see how science can lead to many different careers.

Alice will have your students in wonderland as they use this innovative 3D programming environment targeted to middle and high school students. Be the director of a movie or the creator of a video game. 3D objects appear in an on-screen virtual world imagined by the creator and move around according to the directions you give by dragging and dropping tiles. The drag and drop technique provides a more engaging programming experience for first time programmers. Alice provides exposure to object-oriented programming. Alice has practical value for students to learn how computers think. The instructions correspond to standard statements in a production oriented programming language, such as Java, C++, and C#. While using Alice, programmers are able to immediately see how their animation program runs and the behavior of the objects in their animation. Manipulate camera angles and lighting to make further enhancements. Alice is a revolutionary method to teach programming, especially to first-time learners. It allows students to understand programming concepts, a 21st century skill.

In the Classroom

Be sure to check with your Technology Department, as many districts require authorization to download or install new applications. Plan ahead as you request that this application be installed on your classroom or laptop cart computers. Alice provides an opportunity for students to create and learn how to problem solve. Subscribe to the teacher list to receive updates and integration ideas for Alice. The purpose of this list is to provide an easy way to ask questions and collaborate with the Alice teaching community. View and use activities to increase programming knowledge and the use of the Alice program.

Students quickly catch on to Alice when allowed to play and easily see what they can make from it. Provide a simple assignment with defined rules/tasks to learn the tools as well as the drag and drop interface. Have students use a storyboard to organize their creation in order to keep tabs on students and their creations. Build games to review curricular material for assessments. Have students create videos or digital stories to bring a subject to life. Teachers of gifted can turn their students loose to create animations about individual interests or research projects.

Transform your students' web-based research with Scrible. Highlight and annotate web pages and easily save, share, organize, and collaborate on Internet-based research. Scrible offers browser bookmarklets for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer. With the Scrible bookmarklet installed, when you're on a page just click the bookmarklet to launch a menu of bookmarking tools. Access your work right where you left off from editing. Use the option to format your bibliographies as you bookmark. Compile your article clippings into one package. Students may sign up using their academic email address. (If your school's domain name is not recognized as "academic," sign up for the free account and send a "feedback" email explaining that your email address is that of a student.) Student Scrible accounts have double the storage capacity of the standard free account. Educators sign up for the Basic Edition and then click the feedback link to let Scrible know you're an educator. They will set you up with a special edition which includes the same features. Work smarter, not harder with Scrible. Saving your bookmarks with Scrible allows you to easily go back to review a site, and you'll see immediately why you bookmarked that site.

In the Classroom

Your students' online research will be efficient and effective with Scrible. Students can take notes on their bookmarks. They only need to bookmark the part of the website they need for their assignment. Students can collaborate with peers on their research. Post articles and documents online for your students to highlight and annotate. Bookmark this tool on your website or blog for your students to access in or outside of the classroom. Use Scrible to annotate professional development articles or to highlight important information for your students. The best part? It will instantly create your bibliography for you!

Find seven videos about climate change and the evidence scientists have about recent climate change and its causes. The scientific community, on the whole, has accepted the main body of evidence about climate change and the causes. If unsure what the controversy is all about, or possibly to validate your own opinion, become more knowledgeable about climate change and causes by watching these videos. Offered in seven segments, this content replicates a longer video by the same name, making for easier viewing and understanding. Develop an informed opinion about this highly controversial issue. These videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, you could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Watch the series of videos as a class or assign them for homework, in a flipped classroom strategy. If using the flipped classroom strategy, use a program like Grockit Answers, reviewed here, where you can embed questions at certain points in the video. Another idea that would put you at the top of the scale as a Common Core prepared teacher would be to use a program like Research Assistant, reviewed here, to help you find articles about climate change, greenhouse emissions, carbon emissions, etc. from many different sources. Then embed the article and video in a program like Actively Learn, reviewed here, or Cirrculet, reviewed here.

Use polltogo to create polls for user response during a meeting or class time. Connect with your audience in many ways. Create a question and select type of answers, how long the poll will last, password or not, and more options. Receive notifications about your poll via your email. Each poll is free for twenty people to vote. Tweet about polltogo and receive another thirty credits so thirty more people can vote. Choose to receive results (via email) after every vote or at the end of the voting period. Interim and final results can also be viewed online. Another great feature is embedding the results link into a PowerPoint or Keynote slide to project results during a presentation. Polltogo is a device-agnostic voting tool and will auto-adapt to display on any mobile or desktop device.

In the Classroom

Use this tool easily in your Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) classroom since all students will be able to access it for free, no matter what device they have. One of the question choices for polltogo is "Feedback" which is perfect for formative assessment or asking what students need help with after a lesson. Use this site to vote for correct answers in math class, project ideas for science or social studies, social issues in current events, and practically any other subject area. Encourage students to incorporate polls during class presentations as a test to see who is listening or for questions the audience might have. Use polltogo to make parent polls and post on a class website to keep the lines of communication open.

Enter the world of Common Core with NYlearns. Find a myriad of free resources including activities, learning experience unit, lesson plans, multimedia, teacher resources, web-based practice, constructed response questions, document based questions, and rubrics in elementary, intermediate, and commencement. An overview of Assessment includes basics, and assessment builder in which you may choose grade level and subject. Currently, memberships are available to school districts to have access to e-portfolio, website, e-planner, my curriculum, and assessment builder.

In the Classroom

Begin or extend your experiences with Common Core. Find real examples to use or be inspired to create one of your own. Educators and administrators alike can examine, discuss, and reflect on website materials and current practices. Save this in your bookmarks or favorites to explore as time permits.

Create diagrams, flowcharts, organizational charts, and more using ProcessOn. After a short registration process, create your diagram using templates provided or start from scratch. Creation tools are similar to Microsoft Word setup, allowing easy personalization with colors, shapes, text, images, and more. Easily collaborate using tools such as an online chat. Click the Invite Collaborators link to send an invitation. Save files on the site or download directly to your computer.

In the Classroom

Use this site to create your own charts or diagrams to share on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Challenge students to create their own charts using this tool. Create charts for literature that you are reading in class, pinpointing the plot, conflict/resolution, and more. Create a diagram to highlight important dates in an individual's life or even dates in a war. Students could use this site for a project on any topic: science, government, history, literature, and many others. Have students create study guides using this site. Share or embed the BEST maps on your class website. One of the best aspects of this site is that students can collaborate online for group projects. Learning Support teachers can encourage small groups to create study guides together, reinforcing their knowledge as they discuss and work together.

This companion page (wiki) for the book Crafting Digital Writing is a terrific resource for anyone who wants to share writing or present research results digitally, including text and other media. Find suggestions and examples for digital media. Links include example pages for copyright law, a list of web publishing tools, tools for gathering information, citing sources, brainstorming, presentations, Video/Multimedia, Photo Editing, Screencasting, and several other topics. Examples include a student essay, a wiki of Death of a Salesman converted to PDF format, webpages, videos, and more.

In the Classroom

The Common Core State Standards Anchor Standard for Writing CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.6 calls for students to use the technology to share their writing and to interact with others as part of this digital writing process. With this in mind, sharing this Digital Writing resource with your English department members and with science and history departments is a natural. This page is a terrific resource for any upper elementary or secondary teacher who wants students to produce writing or present research results digitally. For those interested, here is a video of Troy Hicks outlining the principles of his approach and the five themes he adheres to for a writing class: Troy Hicks Video. This video is hosted on YouTube. If Youtube is blocked at your school, it may be worth viewing at home prior to introducing your students to the resources. Use this companion wiki page directly with students or create an English department Symbaloo webmix or Livebinder of digital writing resources for students to practice ethical and powerful digital writing. Make digital writing a year long initiative in your school.

Pamela is a downloadable software program that enables you to record the audio and video portions of Skype calls. Follow prompts to download on your computer. The FREE version includes 15 minutes of free recording time, and options to save in several formats such as mp3 and WAV files. This is a Windows only program.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use Pamela to record shorter Skype calls to save for future use. Embed and share recordings on your class website or blog. Share recordings with absentee students. Download the Professional or Business version for 30 days free use to access additional features such as longer recording times.

Debate with others or vote on topics of social and political interest on Quibl. This site offers an open debate platform. See the best of what both sides of an issue have to offer and then decide where to put your comment or argument. There are guidelines for every submission, and moderators review every topic submission and all comments. Find a debate via search. Browse the categories you are interested in, sort the debate with filters, or use the map and the regions that are interesting to you. Though Quibl is monitored, the general public has access so content may not be appropriate for all students. Preview before sharing in a classroom.

In the Classroom

To prepare students for Common Core Assessments on evidence and arguments, have them choose a popular topic on Quibl. Challenge students to research it so they can provide evidence for their stance when writing about their opinion or to refute another's. Use a whole-class account with a teacher email or individual student accounts, depending on your school policies and access. Science and social studies teachers can use this site for current events. When students are interested in a topic, access Quibl to see if there is a debate about it. If not, you may want to consider creating your own. In language arts, show the students both sides of an issue, then have them come up with an issue they care about that is not on Quibl. Have them write about both sides of an issue. Many students will have weak writing on the side opposite their opinion, and this is a teachable moment for word choice and phrasing. Have your students write about these "ready made" topics before showing them what others have to say. Once finished, they can read what others are thinking and add ideas to their opinion. Also, this would be an ideal time for them to look at the opposing opinion, decide which is the strongest point, and then teach them how to address concerns of others in their writing. For example, they can concede it is a valid point and then counter with another strong argument. If you teach French, give your students practice reading French by clicking on the FR tab. Though Quibl is monitored, the general public has access so be sure to review any issue before presenting it to your students.

Use this free tool to search a specific hashtag on all Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram posts using that hashtag. (A hashtag is simply a way of marking the general topic or audience for a tweet or Facebook update.) See all information in one place and then create a tagboard with that hashtag name. Send the link to the tagboard to others for them to follow. Refresh your tagboard to see all new Tweets and Posts. New to Twitter? Read more about Twitter at TeachersFirst's Twitter for Teachers page.

In the Classroom

Use this tool to follow any political event such as The State of the Union address, elections, and other major events. Get a perspective of people in the country or the World by identifying the different responses and viewpoints from those in other locations. Compare viewpoints with those of the formal media. Follow any major news event or items related to the event (reactions to the Super Bowl commercials?) Follow major achievements, world events, and more. Use on an Interactive whiteboard or projector to introduce a class topic or follow current events. Have students submit a record of tweets that show their learning over time. Students can create an Infographic or other multimedia presentation about reflections and information learned from the Tagboard. Have students make a mash-up using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge Tools reviewed here. For your own professional learning, create a Tagboard to follow one of the many educational Twitter chat hashtags listed here.

This really good (though dated) video explains how sediments are transformed into beach sand. The many details make this useful across many age groups. The video is 20 minutes long. Click on the name of the YouTube account (LSUC4G) to view other oceanography videos that may be of value in your class. This video is hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube.

In the Classroom

Show to the class on an Interactive Whiteboard or projector. Students WILL likely find some humor in the outdated fashions in this video! However, the content is phenomenal. Create a study guide that students can use to record vital information to remember for later. Consider having students take two part notes with words and phrases written in one column with pictures of the processes or ways for them to remember in the second column. While the video is playing, have specimens of the various rocks and minerals available for students to observe. As they draw or write observations about the specimens in their notes, they can also record any questions they might have to ask later. Students can depict various parts of this information in easy to understand language and examples with their own demonstrations recorded as a podcast or video. Students can choose from many presentation tools reviewed here. For an even more exciting tech-infused project, have student groups enhance this video with their own annotations and resources using wireWax, reviewed here.

Take a tour of your closet to find out where your clothes come from. Discover the concept of interdependence and the extent of our global footprints. Research where raw materials come from and how clothes are made. Consider the implications of manufacturing and transportation to get them to your closet. This interactive includes informative videos complete with transcript. You can save your place within the interactive by "getting a code" that you re-enter on return.

In the Classroom

When discussing the Food and Fiber system (materials used to produce food and the many products we use daily), use this site to gather initial information of where their items come from. As products are no longer made closer to our actual lives, many students are disconnected from the materials and processes used to create everyday products and are unaware of their global footprint. Students can continue research by investigating other items used daily to determine what they are made from, where they are manufactured, etc. Continue this process with the foods that they eat to show how many popular foods are very removed from the whole foods that we should be eating. In geography classes, have students use a reviewed geo/mapping tool from the TeachersFirst Edge to map the path across the globe from raw materials to finished products, just to make one pair of jeans. Discuss the role of natural resources and economics in determining this path.